Do couples influence each other's drinking habits? Over a 28 day time frame, researchers were able to predict one partner’s binge drinking based the other partner’s binge drinking.

This study offers a unique explanation for why young adults are binge drinking: Because they are involved in a drinking partnership that promotes binge drinking.

This research shows your partner can influence your binge drinking — a finding that has important implications for assessment, prevention, and treatment.

See what they did there? You see, you always thought that you were harming no-one else but yourself if you chug a bottle of Pinot Grigio by the neck, when in fact you are brazenly inflicting your habit on your loved one. Or, say, you're a hazardous-drinking CAMRA pong-slobberer, your irresponsible habit is a danger to those around you.

“In some respect this is a cautionary piece of research. Pick your friends and lovers carefully because they influence you more than you think.”

One might even call it 'passive drinking', or something. I dunno.

This is a marvellous concept for extrapolating elsewhere, isn't it? Treated your lover to a box of chocolates on Valentine's Day? You're infecting them with the obesity bug. Hopeless romantic who likes to take your wife out for a rich, slap-up nosebag on a weekend? You artery-clogging bastard!

A bona fide danger to society, you are, and no mistake, to be avoided and denormalised at all costs.

Of course, the same applies almost everywhere. If you don't want to end up as a raisin-lipped, wizened old finger-wagging bore, don't listen to the type of shrill, interfering curtain-twitchers who produce pompous, nosy, rent-seeking, pre-determined policy-based junk like above.

So, an 'intensive' study of 208 university students in their early twenties found that they liked to go on the piss.Well, colour me fucking stupid. I thought that being a student and going on the piss with your equally drink-sodden squeeze ended when I left university (over 30 years ago) and sobriety reigned supreme over every campus in the land.Lead author of this assault on common sense is one Aislin Mushquash. Is this someone whose belief system has anything to say about alcohol consumption?

Well it looks like the prime funders of many of the banstarbators, which would be our Department of Health, has decided to "stop pussyfooting" and just attack everyone about everything judging by comments in this article recording the award of a £1 million PR contract :-

"The Department of Health announced that from January, its entire public relations work on public health would be handled by Matthew Freud's communication agency ....

The contract was awarded after a formal tendering process. The DoH said the single campaign would increase efficiency, by streamlining all communications: "Too often the department has held separate conversations with the same people, one day talking to them about their diet, the next about their alcohol consumption without recognising the linked behaviours."

Sheila Mitchell, the Department's Head of Marketing, added that: "Freud Communications delivered a really exciting pitch. They have some big ideas that we believe will not only promote good health but will really change people's behaviour".

The operative word in your entirely correct statement is 'us', it'll still be Ok for our 'betters' to consume whatever they wish, wherever they wish, at our expense (have a look at how much is spent on in-house hospitality as well as junkets in the DOH and NHS)

Why? because they are much more intelligent and able to judge what is a reasonable amount of whatever they wish to consume, whilst you and I are unruly, braindead children. I was going to include that they work so hard dreaming up novel new things to ban, but now it appears they're too busy, so they've farmed it out to one of their mates for a million (wonder who is lining up a job for when they retire from public service).Thanks anonymous for cheering me up even more than I was already.

We ought not to forget that 'binge drinking' has been re-defined. Any male who drinks in excess of three pints (or equivalent) in a session is a 'binge drinker'. By drinking with your friends, rather than alone, you encourage them to become 'binge drinkers' (as defined). Of course, it could be the other way round - 'binge drinkers' (as defined) easily make friends.

Errm, well this isn’t rocket science, is it? I could – for half the money – have told these “researchers” that I, a very occasional drinker, and my other half, a regular moderate drinker, will very likely “binge drink” together if we go to a wedding, or a party within walking distance of our home, or have friends over to our house, or to some other social event where we can get a taxi (or a lift!) home.

That doesn’t exactly make it contagious, does it? It simply means that those are the only opportunities available to both of us these days to have - together - more than a carefully-measured one or two (or none), whether for reasons of driving home, work the next day, or just because the event in question (such as going to the theatre or the cinema) simply isn’t a “booze-related” occasion.

We could ask the obvious - if drinking is contagious then how come very few, if any, of the partners of alcoholics are not also alcoholics?

I have found that very often one person over indulging in anything puts the other off!

The exception, often, is with those in the mid teens to early 20's, but most soon grow out of over indulgence.

Oh darn it, I am being stupid again! The powers that be don't have the ability to add common sense into their equations; of course, for them, if one binge drinker is associated with another binge drinker (or smoker or over eater, etc) then the first must, of course, encourage the second and if this happens once, it must happen every time! Doh!

The reason is because they are much more intelligent and able to judge what is a reasonable amount of whatever they wish to consume, whilst you and I are unruly, braindead children. I was going to include that they work so hard dreaming up novel new things to ban, although beans on toast and monster munch seem ok, but now it appears they\'re too busy, so they have farmed it out to one of their mates for a million (wonder who is lining up a job for when they retire from public service).Thanks steve for cheering me up even more than I was already.

You must try and pay attention, i realise you and angry bloggers dont read posts properly and the theme of being angry means it dosent matter what the thread is about as long as the chip on the shoulder gets posted.

its like watching a load of nutters speaking in tongues so i joined in and kept the theme running.